Hakeem Nicks hasn’t seen the field since walking off during the closing minutes of the New York Giants’ Week 2 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, after missing the last three weeks with a swollen knee and still dealing with issues from a broken foot suffered in training camp, Nicks may finally see the field this Sunday when the Giants take on the San Francisco 49ers in a rematch of last year’s NFC Championship game.

There is no doubt that not having Nicks in the starting receiver slot has hampered the Giants passing attack just a little. Teams have been able to focus more on Victor Cruz and he has not had many dazzling performances that seemed to be the norm from last season–with the exception of last week’s three-touchdown game.

It is also true that Domenik Hixon, Ramses Barden and Rueben Randle all stepped up at various times to help keep the offense moving. However, Barden and Hixon also suffered concussions over that span and the Giants wide receiver corps is thin. Having Nicks would be a huge upgrade because now teams also have to take the other receivers into account at well.

Nicks is arguably one of the best wide receivers in the NFL when healthy and having him on the field would be a huge boost for the Giants and possibly open up the running game.

Nicks saw limited action in practice on Thursday which was encouraging for Nicks, the Giants and Giants fans. However, tomorrow will be the ultimate deciding factor in whether or not Nicks makes an appearance in Sunday’s game.